Absorbent articles of the above mentioned kind are intended for absorption of body fluids, such as urine and blood. As a liquid pervious topsheet which is facing the wearer during use, they usually exhibit a nonwoven material, for example of spunbond-type. It is also previously known to arrange a liquid acquisition layer between the topsheet layer and the absorbent body, said liquid acquisition layer having the ability to quickly receive large quantities of liquid, and to distribute the liquid and temporarily store it before it is absorbed by the underlying absorbent body. This is of great importance, especially in the thin compressed absorbent bodies of today, often comprising a high content of so called superabsorbents, which certainly have a high absorption capacity but in many cases a too low absorption rate in order to instantaneously be able to absorb the large quantity of liquid which can be discharged in a few seconds during urination. A porous, relatively thick acquisition layer, for example in the form of a fibrous wadding, a carded fibrous web, or another type of fibrous material, has a high instantaneous liquid-receiving capacity and is able to store the liquid temporarily until it has been absorbed by the absorbent body. The same applies for porous foam materials. The liquid is thereafter drained successively into the underlying absorbent body, after which the acquisition layer once again has the capacity to receive liquid from a repeated wetting.
Examples of absorbent articles comprising such porous acquisition layers are, for example, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,371,667, EP-A-0,312,118 and EP-A-0,474,777.
The materials used today as acquisition layers in absorbent articles are mostly functioning well, but are relatively expensive and can sometimes exhibit an insufficient acquisition rate, especially in the second and third wettings, if large quantities of liquid are involved.
It is previously known through EP-A-0,391,814 and GB-B-2,209,672 to use continuous, unbonded synthetic fibres, so-called tow, in absorbent articles for distributing liquid in the longitudinal direction of the article.
Another problem is that conventional liquid pervious topsheet materials used for absorbent articles of this kind, usually a nonwoven material of synthetic fibres, e.g. a spunbond material, often have a lower acquisition rate for liquid than the acquisition layer, wherein liquid can leak out from the article before it reaches the acquisition layer. This problem can of course be solved by using a topsheet material which is very open and therefore has a high liquid permeability. Such an open topsheet material may, however, cause problems with too low strength and sharp fibre ends from the acquisition layer which penetrate the open topsheet material and irritate the user.